Juravinski family gifts $3.3M for COVID-19 research

HAMILTON, ON – Charles and Margaret Juravinski (pictured) have joined the fight against Covid-19 in Hamilton with a $3.3 million gift to accelerate Covid-19-related and brain health research as part of the newly formed Juravinski Research Institute in Hamilton.

“We have seen a lot in our lives, and we know by now that there is more than enough ingenuity and goodwill in this world to defeat this pandemic,” the couple said in a new Letter to the Community. “Bringing ingenuity and goodwill together requires resources, and that is why we are making this gift. Our wish is that it may inspire hope. We hope it will produce results that benefit people immediately. We urge others to find ways to give what they can.”

Last spring, the couple created an endowment of $100 million or more to support collaborative research across Hamilton Health Sciences, McMaster University and St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. Their estate commitment is one of Canada’s largest ever planned legacy gifts and established the Juravinski Research Institute.

Researchers from the three organizations are collaborating to investigate the efficacy/efficiency of masks and respirators worn by healthcare professionals, the impact of a pandemic on emergency departments, critical and intensive care units and staff, development of a rapid sampling and detection testing system, and advancing COVID-19 research capabilities by capitalizing on existing national expertise in data collection and biobanks.

“Charles and Margaret Juravinski have again demonstrated their love for this city through this wonderful gift,” says Rob MacIsaac, HHS president and CEO. ”Thanks to their generosity, researchers will both tackle the immediate challenge of COVID-19, as well as a number of important longer term brain health initiatives that will help people here and around the world.”

A portion of this gift will also support research which will examine mental health and addiction in young people, learning disabilities and the effects on children’s mental health, and the development of new imaging technology to predict outcomes and support the recovery of patients with concussions or traumatic brain injury.